A
year is the orbital period of the Earth moving in its orbit around the Sun. Due
to the Earth's axial tilt, the course of a year sees the passing of the
seasons, marked by changes in weather, the hours of daylight, and consequently
vegetation and fertility. In temperate and subpolar regions, generally four
seasons are recognized: spring, summer, autumn and winter. In seasonal tropical
and subtropical regions, the wet (rainy or monsoon) season and the dry season
are generally recognized.

A
calendar year is an approximation of the Earth's orbital period in a given
calendar. The Gregorian calendar considers a calendar year to be either a
common year of 365 days, or a leap year of 366 days (as does the Julian
calendar). The average year length across the complete leap cycle of the
Gregorian (modern) calendar is 365.2425 days. ISO 80000-3, in an informative
(cf. normative) annex, proposes the symbol, a, (for Latin annus) to represent a
year of either 365 or 366 days. In English, the abbreviations, y and yr, are
used.

In
astronomy, the Julian year is a unit of time, defined as exactly 365.25 days
each of exactly 86400 SI seconds, totaling 31557600 seconds.

The
word, year, is also used of periods loosely associated with but not strictly
identical to either the astronomical or the calendar year, such as the seasonal
year, the fiscal year or the academic year, etc. By extension, the term, year,
can mean the orbital period of any planet: for example, a Martian year or
Venusian year is the time in which Mars or, respectively, Venus completes its
own orbit. The term can also be used in reference to any long period or cycle,
such as the Great Year.

"My Way" is a song popularized by Frank
Sinatra. Its lyrics were written by Paul Anka and set to music based on the
French song "Comme d'habitude" co-composed, co-written and performed
in 1967 by Claude François. Anka's English lyrics are unrelated to the original
French song.

Origin

Paul Anka heard the original 1967 French pop song, Comme d'habitude(As Usual) performed by Claude François, while on holiday in the south of France. He flew to Paris to negotiate the rights to the song. In a 2007 interview, he said, "I thought it was a bad record, but there was something in it." He acquired adaptation, recording, and publishing rights for the mere nominal or formal consideration of one dollar, subject to the provision that the melody's composers would retain their original share of royalty rights with respect to whatever versions Anka or his designates created or produced. Some time later, Anka had a dinner in Florida with Frank Sinatra and "a couple of Mob guys" during which Sinatra said "I'm quitting the business. I'm sick of it; I'm getting the hell out."

Back in New York, Anka re-wrote the original French
song for Sinatra, subtly altering the melodic structure and changing the
lyrics:

"At one o'clock in the morning, I sat down at an
old IBM electric typewriter and said, 'If Frank were writing this, what would
he say?' And I started, metaphorically, 'And now the end is near.' I read a lot
of periodicals, and I noticed everything was 'my this' and 'my that'. We were
in the 'me generation' and Frank became the guy for me to use to say that. I
used words I would never use: 'I ate it up and spit it out.' But that's the way
he talked. I used to be around steam rooms with the Rat Pack guys – they liked
to talk like Mob guys, even though they would have been scared of their own
shadows."

Anka finished the song at 5 am. "I called Frank
up in Nevada – he was at Caesar's Palace – and said, 'I've got something really
special for you.'" Anka claimed, "When my record company caught wind
of it, they were very pissed that I didn't keep it for myself. I said, 'Hey, I
can write it, but I'm not the guy to sing it.' It was for Frank, no one
else." Despite this, Anka would later record the song in 1969 (very
shortly after Sinatra's recording was released). Anka recorded it four other times
as well: in 1996 (as a duet with Gabriel Byrne, performed in the movie Mad Dog
Time), in 1998 in Spanish as (a Mi Manera) (duet with Julio Iglesias), in 2007
(as a duet with Jon Bon Jovi) and in 2013 (as duet with Garou).

Frank Sinatra recorded his version of the song on
December 30, 1968, and it was released in early 1969 on the album of the same
name and as a single. It reached No. 27 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No.
2 on the Easy Listening chart in the US. In the UK, the single achieved a still
unmatched record, becoming the recording with the most weeks inside the Top 40,
spending 75 weeks from April 1969 to September 1971. It spent a further 49
weeks in the Top 75 but never bettered the No. 5 slot achieved upon its first
chart run.

Frank Sinatra is a voice for all generations. His
showmanship and artistry have remained unmatched since he began performing
professionally in the 1930s to his last recording 21 years ago. When you think
Sinatra, you think of the greatest music ever performed. People have marked
milestones in their lives to songs made famous by the legendary Frank Sinatra.
2015 marks a very special year as the most loved entertainer of all time Frank
Sinatra will be celebrated around the world with a series of commemorative
centennial events.

Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra; December 12,
1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American jazz and traditional pop singer,
songwriter, actor, producer and director, who was one of the most popular and
influential musical artists of the 20th century. He is one of the best-selling
music artists of all time, having sold more than 150 million records worldwide.
Born in Hoboken, New Jersey to Italian immigrants, he began his musical career
in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey. He found success as a solo
artist after being signed by Columbia Records in 1943, becoming the idol of the
"bobby soxers". He released his first album, The Voice of Frank
Sinatra, in 1946. Sinatra's professional career had stalled by the early 1950s,
and he turned to Las Vegas, where he became one of its best known performers as
part of the Rat Pack. His career was reborn in 1953 with the success of From
Here to Eternity and his subsequent Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He
signed with Capitol Records and released several critically lauded albums,
including In the Wee Small Hours (1955), Songs for Swingin' Lovers! (1956),
Come Fly with Me (1958), Only the Lonely (1958) and Nice 'n' Easy (1960).

While Sinatra never formally learned how to read
music, he had a fine, natural understanding of it, and he worked very hard from
a young age to improve his abilities in all aspects of music. He did, however,
learn to follow a lead sheet during a performance by "carefully following
the patterns and groupings of notes arranged on the page" and made his own
notations to the music, using his ear to detect semi-tonal differences. Charles L. Granata,in
Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording, states that some
of the most accomplished classically trained musicians soon noticed his musical
understanding, and remarked that Sinatra had a "sixth sense", which
"demonstrated unusual proficiency when it came to detecting incorrect
notes and sounds within the orchestra". Sinatra was an aficionado of
classical music, and would often request classical strains in his music,
inspired by composers and Puccini and other Impressionist masters. His personal
favorite was Ralph Vaughan Williams. He would insist on always recording live
with the band because it gave him a "certain feeling" to perform live
surrounded by musicians. By the mid 1940s, such was his understanding of music
that after hearing an air check of some compositions by Alec Wilder which were
for strings and woodwinds, he became the conductor at Columbia Records for six
of Wilder's compositions: "Air for Oboe", "Air for English
Horn", "Air for Flute", "Air for Bassoon", "Slow
Dance" and "Theme and Variations". The works, which combine
elements of jazz and classical music were considered by Wilder to have been
among the finest renditions and recordings of his compositions-past or present.
At one recording session with arranger Claus Ogerman and an orchestra, Sinatra
heard "a couple of little strangers" in the string section, prompting
Ogerman to make corrections to what were thought to be copyist's errors. Critic
Gene Lees, a lyricist and the author of the words to the Jobim melody
"This Happy Madness", expressed amazement when he heard Sinatra's
recording of it on Sinatra & Company (1971), considering him to have worded
the lyrics in the way that he had intended when writing them to perfection.